Trivers and Willard (1973) argued that, in polygynous species, parents “in good condition” should bias investment toward sons, while parents “in poor condition” should bias investment toward daughters. Biographical evidence on men in the U.S. executive branch—including presidents, vice presidents, and cabinet secretaries—suggests they produced more sons than daughters in the first cohort (Presidents Washington through Garfield), but roughly equal numbers of sons and daughters in the second cohort (Presidents Arthur through Reagan). The same pattern holds for presidents' fathers and sons. Presidents' wills reflect the pattern again: men in the first cohort (Washington through Garfield) favored their sons, overall, slightly more than their daughters; for men in the second cohort (Arthur through Reagan), that bias disappears.

Biotechnology is an evolving policy issue involving a wide variety of federal and state policymakers. While most public and scholarly attention has been focused at the national level, a good deal of state policymaking activity regarding biotechnology has already taken place. The biotechnology issue is not a single, well-defined policy issue but rather a cluster of related issues and concerns. This analysis identifies eight facets of the biotechnology policy issue that have surfaced during congressional debate, committee hearings, and public discussions. This eight-fold characterization of biotechnology development is used to describe recent congressional and state legislative activity affecting biotechnology. Both the complexity and multifaceted nature of the biotechnology issue, and the manner with which it has been dealt by federal and state policymakers, have contributed to the dynamic nature of federalism surrounding this issue.

Two hypotheses about belief in high gods supportive of human morality were tested with data from the Ethnographic Atlas and the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. A significant positive relation between the size of societies and such a belief is demonstrated, and this relation appears to be independent of both regional differences and differences in stratification of the societies. On the other hand, stratification itself is also significantly related with the belief in high gods supportive of human morality, but this relation could not be shown to be independent of regional differences or differences in size.

In their recent PLS article, Ken R. Daniels and Karyn Taylor (1993) advocate policies of openness in regard to donor insemination (DI). In this commentary, I examine openness within the social context of fertility, infertility, human reproduction, and social parenthood in Cameroon. The traditional concept of secrecy in reproductive failure, especially in the case of male infertility, is outlined. Some of the social alternatives, such as natural insemination and social parenthood, are discussed. The inappropriateness of openness in DI within a sociocultural milieu that places a high premium on male reproductive ability is highlighted.

This article considers one of the many ways in which the state might intervene in the life of a pregnant woman in order to prevent serious harm to the child she intends to bear: requiring a substance-abusing pregnant woman to live in a residential treatment center for the duration of her pregnancy. While the author agrees with those who argue that such state action is unjustifiable, she points out that the facts grounding this normative conclusion may change. Disagreeing with those who contend that, regardless of the circumstances, the state may never interfere with the activities of a pregnant woman in order to prevent harm to her future child, the author considers both the present situation and the most likely future scenario, and offers a compromise solution—civil commitment to an outpatient treatment facility.

International concern with the ability of the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention to fulfill its purpose induced the treaty parties to explore the means to promote compliance with the treaty and to detect noncompliance. In September 1995, the Conference on Disarmament hosted a Special Conference to discuss the findings of the ad hoc group of governmental experts to identify and examine potential verification measures from a scientific and technical standpoint. This article analyzes the work of the Special Conference and the most contentious issues raised there, especially (1) objective criteria for permitted and prohibited activities; (2) the concept of a threshold quantity of agent; (3) technical assistance to States Parties; (4) export controls; (5) the use of a list of agents and toxins for facility declarations; (6) on-site measures to promote compliance; (7) the intrusiveness of these measures; and (8) the protection of sensitive information. Ultimately, the conference delegates endorsed a legally binding protocol to strengthen the treaty. The article concludes with a discussion of the trade-offs necessary to achieve consensus on such a protocol.

1. Article X of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BWC) requests States Parties to facilitate and to participate “in the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and…information for the use of bacteriological (biological) agents and toxins for peaceful purposes.” Article X, in addition, stipulates that the Convention “shall be implemented in a manner designed to avoid hampering the economic or technological development of the states parties…or international cooperation in the field of peaceful bacteriological (biological) activities” (United Nations, 1972).

Despite a dramatic decline in transfusion-associated AIDS, increased safety of the national blood supply, and voluntary efforts to find alternatives to homologous blood sources, Americans remain fearful about the possibility of acquiring AIDS through a blood transfusion. Numerous states have initiated legislative efforts that would require explicit warnings about blood safety and that would direct patients to alternative sources of blood. These proposed laws—known as MANTRA bills, for “mandatory notification of transfusion alternatives”—would require physicians to advise patients of blood transfusion options prior to any surgery. Many would mandate the development of new informed consent documents and involve health departments in the implementation of new regulations regarding transfusions. This article concludes that MANTRA legislation is primarily a symbolic attempt to reassure the public about AIDS. It mandates practices that are being adopted voluntarily; it will not make the blood supply safer; it will increase the cost of health care to individuals and in the aggregate; it may diminish the number of donors to the voluntary blood supply system; and it is likely to intensify public fear about the risk of a blood transfusion.

The Ethical Problems associated with the new reproductive technologies are well known: they have been aired in the media since the birth of the first “test tube” baby, Louise Brown, in 1978. The moral status of the human embryo outside the womb (available for manipulation as never before), the “rights of ownership” of human gametes transferred between individuals in fertility treatment, the appropriate use of prenatal and preconceptual diagnostic testing, the truthful disclosure of risks and success rates of fertilization and live births, and the very meaning of infertility remediation in an overpopulated society—these and other issues have been noted and debated worldwide for several decades.

During Each Surgery Clerkship at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, I meet with students in small groups for required discussions of legal, ethical, and policy issues in the cases they are working on. The surgery clerkship is offered four times per year; I typically meet with students for an hour four times per clerkship, or sixteen times per academic year.

As part of the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), David L. Huxsoll and Raymond A. Zilinskas convened a roundtable of biological weapons inspectors who have served in recent United Nations inspections in Iraq. The roundtable was presented over a three-hour period on May 22, 1995. To give the audience a “feel” for what inspectors do and the conditions under which they work, the roundtable session opened with a 35 mm slide presentation. The photos were taken by Zilinskas in the course of two 1994 inspections of Iraqi biological research and production facilities.

This paper has five parts: (1) a historical background to UNSCOM; (2) an explanation of how I came to work for UNSCOM as a staffer and inspector; (3) a description and analysis of the UNSCOM experience in Iraq; (4) a review of seven verification measures employed by UNSCOM; and (5) concluding thoughts on the wider applicability of the UNSCOM experience.

Written declarations have been identified as one of the most useful tools in determining a nation's potential for a biological warfare capability. Declarations are defined as mandatory reports (provided on a periodic basis) that describe various aspects of a state's biological infrastructure, including both academic and governmental programs. Specifically included are descriptions of facilities, summaries of research projects, and other information considered relevant to making an evaluation of that country's capabilities. Notifications of specific events of interest are also considered as part of the required declaration. As part of the confidence-building measures (CBMs) of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC), between 25 and 30 of the State Parties have been providing written declarations for a number of years. With specific regard to the Iraqi experience, the government of Iraq was required (under the auspices of United Nations Security Council Resolution 687) to provide specific declarations about any and all facilities potentially associated with their biological warfare program. UNSCOM inspectors have the responsibility of verifying the accuracy of the information provided by Iraq in declarations.